National physician network warns a 12-month wind-down for drugs and biologics leaves these unsafe products on the market far too long
The Independent Medical Alliance (IMA), a national coalition of independent doctors, healthcare providers, and researchers, today welcomed the Department of Health and Human Services’ decision to terminate the COVID-19 Emergency Use Authorization declarations, calling it a long overdue correction to a regulatory shortcut that should never have been allowed to run for six years. HHS announced today that the EUA declarations for COVID-19 drugs, biological products, and medical devices will be terminated, with the declaration for drugs and biologics winding down over 12 months and the device declaration over 180 days. The original declarations took effect in March 2020, devices on March 24 and drugs and biological products on March 27, meaning the underlying authority has remained in place for more than six years. The EUAs for the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines were already rescinded in 2025, well before today’s broader termination.
“This is a step in the right direction that frankly should have happened years ago,” said Dr. Joseph Varon, President and Chief Medical Officer of the IMA. “COVID-19 products authorized under emergency use never underwent the same scrutiny required of fully licensed drugs and devices, and that has resulted in catastrophic harm to patients.”
Since 2021, the frontline doctors and researchers of the IMA and others raised significant alarms about a growing number of cardiac and other adverse events resulting from the rushed mRNA shot, injuries that regulators were slow to acknowledge publicly, and in some cases deliberately hid or obscured data reflecting these vaccine injuries.
“The harm caused is the predictable result of a system that allowed big corporations to rush these products onto the market,” continued Dr. Varon. “We applaud HHS for repealing the rest of these EUAs, but a 12-month sunset is too long. If the public health emergency justifying these authorizations no longer exists, there is no medical reason a product needs another full year of authorized use before transitioning through ordinary regulatory pathways.”
